|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Author: Robert Owen Story: Invictus Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 2 Words: 146,488
The next two weeks passed all too quickly for Harry and the others. Ron, Harry, and Ginny put in some long hours practicing Quidditch moves for the upcoming season, while Hermione sat outside, alternating between reading and lying out in one piece swimsuit. When Molly asked why, given the rather cool summer weather, Hermione explained to Molly that she was trying to get a tan before heading back to Hogwarts. Privately, however, Ginny told Harry that Hermione was actually working on Ron, a plan, which Harry saw, was working admirably, judging from the way Ron's eyes kept sliding her way during practices. The two couples also, to Molly's amusement and consternation, spent a lot of time "studying" away from The Burrow. She knew exactly what kind of "studying" was going on, but as long as the clothes remained on and she didn't see any marks on necks, she chose to give them some privacy. That did not mean, however, that she wasn't mindful of the possibilities. One day, she sent Harry and Ron to Ottery St Catchpole to buy some groceries while she and the girls spent some time together. When they returned, however, it was to find both girls giggling like mad down by the riverside. After Ron and Hermione had gone off towards the Quidditch pitch, Harry turned his head and looked down at Ginny nestled against his body. "So, are you going to tell me what that attack of the sillies was all about?" Ginny rolled over and smothered her face against Harry's shirt as she started to laugh again. Finally, regaining her composure, she answered his question. "Mum gave Hermione and me a very strong lecture about 'proper' behavior when we're in London this week." Harry gave her a puzzled look as he said, "Oh?" Ginny smiled as she continued. "Yes, indeed. She just wanted to make sure we understood the rules regarding the sleeping arrangements." "The sleeping arrangements? What is she…" and Harry's voice trailed off as realization set in. He looked down at Ginny's reddening face and saw that his deduction was correct. His own tomato-red face quickly matched Ginny's, and the two lay there, in awkward silence, for several minutes, before they both started to laugh. Harry ran a hand through his hair as he chuckled ruefully, "Oh well, I guess that means I'm stuck with Ron's snoring again, huh?" Ginny very softly asked, "Do you want to be?" He stopped in mid-chuckle and froze as the implications of Ginny's words sank home. For several seconds, nothing was said, and then Harry answered quietly, "I don't know. What do you want, Ginny?" "To be with you, but…" Harry's heart sank as he asked the dreaded question. "But what, Ginny?' "I…I don't know if I'm ready for that." Harry silently let his heart restart and then placed a finger gently under her chin, tilting her head back so he could see her confusion filled eyes. "If it's any consolation, love, I'm not sure I'm ready for that either." He paused, to gather his thoughts, and then continued. "I love you, Ginny, and I…well…" and Harry paused again, searching for the right words as Ginny waited for him to continue, "I want to be with you too, Gin, but…I'm just not sure if I'm ready to cross that bridge yet." He let out a sigh of frustration as he struggled to express what he was feeling. "I know it's seems rather cowardly of…" Her emphatic "No!" stopped him right there. Ginny continued, "It's not cowardly! You could never be a coward, Harry." She reached out and cupped his face in her hands. "The fact that we're here, now, is proof of that." Ginny pulled his face down for a long, deep, kiss that left Harry wanting so much more, and yet knowing the time wasn't right for that. She smiled as she saw the look of hunger in Harry's green eyes. In a very quiet whisper, Ginny said, "Since neither of us are ready, just consider that last kiss as a down payment on the future." Harry smiled as he leaned over and kissed her back. "What did I ever do to deserve you, Ginny?" She sighed and giggled as she replied, "I'll never tell," and kissed him again. ******** The morning of the 29th found The Burrow in utter chaos. Arthur and Molly had left the night before for their trip to Calais. Molly had intended for them to Apparate to the conference, but Arthur had surprised her with a set of Muggle train tickets for the cross-channel trip through the Chunnel. The resultant explosion from Molly had been clearly audible to both couples, who where enjoying a late afternoon picnic down by the riverside. Only Hermione's timely intervention had prevented Arthur's untimely demise as Molly raked him over the coals for wanting to travel under the English Channel, where anything might happen. "The tunnel might collapse, the sea might flood the shaft, the train might break down, we might suffocate, the…" Arthur looked over at his hysterical wife and tried again to explain his reasons. "This tunnel is an amazing feat of Muggle engineering and I just want to have the opportunity to examine it first hand so I can make a full report to the Ministry about it. Really, it's just part of my duties, dear." Only when Hermione sat down and explained all the safety features and security precautions, did Molly finally relent to take the train. However, she made Arthur promise they'd Apparate home after the conference. Now, as the children rushed to get ready to leave, Hermione stood in the kitchen door, looking north every few minutes, with a look of dread on her face. Finally, she yelled, "Bill! We can't leave yet! We still don't have our OWLs or our school letters!" Percy looked up from his breakfast with an exasperated expression on his face. "What do you mean that you haven't got your letters? They came three days ago. I collected them from the owls myself!" Hermione swung around and screamed, "THREE DAYS AGO? Why didn't you tell us?" Percy visibly winced at her reaction and then replied, with an indifferent shrug, "Ron and Harry were running an errand to Ottery St. Catchpole, and Mum was talking with you and Ginny upstairs. Since the door was locked and a Silencing Charm had been cast, I simply left the letters on Dad's desk and went to work." Ron groaned and looked towards his father's work desk, piled so high with papers and documents that often the family only knew Arthur was there if they could see his wizarding cap moving over the top of the pile. "Percy! You are a bloody idiot!" We'll never find them now without messing everything up and Mum will go spare on us if we do!" Percy drew himself up and in a aggrieved tone remarked, "There's no reason to get bolts with me, Ron! After all, it's not my fault that Dad didn't give them to you. Really now, get a grip on yourselves, it's only your OWL scores. It's not like it's something important. Now, I must be off to work," and, with that, Percy Apparated to the Ministry. Hermione stood silently tapping her foot, looking about ready to explode, as Bill calmly went over to Arthur's desk and, after rooting around for several minutes, retrieved the four letters from under a pile of reports. Returning to the kitchen, he handed the letters out and sat back to watch the reactions. Ginny opened her letter first, and let out a scream of joy as a shiny prefect badge fell out into her hand. Harry immediately swept her up into a hug and, ignoring her half-hearted squeal of protest, twirled her around in the air as Ron, Hermione and Bill all congratulated her. Putting her down, Harry then opened his own envelope and silently scanned his OWL scores. "Well? How did you do?" prompted Bill. Harry looked up and grinned. "Ten OWLS with Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration." "What about Potions?" was Ron's question. Harry's grin almost split his face in two. "Outstanding!" Ginny threw her arms around Harry and almost squeezed the life out of him with her hug. Ron pumped his arm in the air then gave Harry a puzzled look. "The man wrecks your every effort in class, belittles your abilities, refuses to give you any credit whatsoever and you still manage to get an Outstanding?" Hermione gave Ron a gentle slap to the back of the head as she answered for Harry. "Really, Ron, Professor Snape may be biased against Harry, and Gryffindors in general, but he does know how to teach!" Harry nodded, "I hate to agree with Hermione on this, but after all the revising I did with Ginny in the Hospital Wing, it was easy to pass the test without Snape in the room!" Ron continued to shake his head in amazement at Harry's Potions score as he opened his own letter. After reading it, he casually folded the letter and stuck it in his pocket. Then, looking around the room at the expectant faces, he simple stated, "Nine, with three Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Divination." Ginny let out a snort of derision, "Just goes to show that the old bat really doesn't know what she's talking about!" Ron laughed, "True, the trick to passing her is to keep coming up with creative ways to kill Harry!" Hermione ignored the jokes about Trelawney and gave Ron a quick kiss, which sent Bill's eyebrow up and turned Ron's ear tips red, as she exclaimed, 'See, I told you could pass if you studied!" Bill now spoke up, a mischievous glint in his eye, "Studying? Is that what you call snogging these days?" Harry, Ginny, and Bill all laughed as both Ron and Hermione blushed furiously. "Come on, Hermione, stop stalling and open up your letter!" demanded Ginny. Hermione looked at her letter with trepidation and then slowly opened it to reveal the contents. She stood there, for several seconds, not making a sound or reacting, then both arms shot up in the air as she let out a scream of joy! "Fourteen!" Ron swept his girlfriend up in his arms as he told her, "See, I told you that you had nothing to worry about! Harry & I knew you'd pass everything and I bet they're all Outstanding too, aren't they?" Hermione blushed as she returned Ron's hug and nodded. Bill walked over and tapped Ron on the shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?" and proceeded to give Hermione a hug and a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he pointed out, "You do realize that you beat Percy's score?" Hermione looked around her with a satisfied smile and replied in a mock innocent tone, "Why, Bill, I do believe you're right! Oh, the poor dear will be so devastated at the news!" to which Ginny gave a whoop of laughter and added, "Serves him right, too! The big headed git!" As the others laughed, Bill glanced at the clock and announced, "All right, you lot, if we're going to make Diagon Alley with enough time to get settled in, buy your school supplies and be ready to go out tonight, we need to get moving!" Ginny gave her brother a quizzical look, "Go out tonight?" Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out a Muggle envelope to show the others. "That's right, I managed to get us tickets to tonight's performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona at the new Globe Theatre." Hermione's jaw dropped several inches before exclaiming, "It's the Prologue Season! My parents couldn't even get tickets, and they're patrons of the Globe! On opening night, there were people waiting for two hours outside the theatre hoping for a returned ticket! How on earth did you manage to get us tickets?" Bill grinned smugly as he replied, "It pays to have friends in the right places and, in my case, it's a certain Irish lass with friends in the Muggle Relations Department." Ginny rushed over and gave Bill a hug as Hermione started to explain about the Globe and Shakespeare to Ron. "Have I told you recently that you're my favorite big brother?" Shortly afterwards, while the girls were upstairs, Ron took Harry aside to whisper, "It wouldn't surprise me if Percy knew the scores and deliberately hid them to avoid the twin's ribbing him about Hermione beating his scores." Harry, thinking back to Percy's reaction, nodded in agreement. "You're probably right, mate, but I wouldn't tell Hermione if I were you. I don't think your mum would be too amused to come home and find a red-haired newt running around her kitchen!" Grabbing their things, the group quickly Flooed to The Leaky Cauldron and, after dumping their trunks in the rooms, they hurried to Flourish & Blotts to buy their books and school supplies to that they'd have some free time before leaving for the Globe. Later, with their school purchases completed, and lunch devoured, the group decided to split up and roam around Diagon Alley for a bit before meeting back at the Leaky Cauldron and heading for the theater. Harry reluctantly left Ginny in front of Flourish & Blotts so he could take their purchases back to The Leaky Cauldron before rejoining her at the bookstore. Much to his surprise, however, when he came back downstairs, he found Professor Dumbledore seated at the bar, talking with Tom about the upcoming Quidditch season. Hearing Harry descend, Dumbledore got up and moved to greet Harry away from the other patrons. "Good afternoon, Harry. I trust you and the others are enjoying your stay in Diagon Alley?" Harry grinned as he replied, "Well, considering we arrived only a few hours ago, we haven't had much free time yet." "And are the sleeping arrangements to your satisfaction?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at the slight blush that colored Harry's face. "Ah! Well, just remember that sometimes it is best to wait rather than rush into things." "Sir?" Dumbledore clasped a hand to Harry's shoulder as he replied, "I may be an old 'fuddy duddy' in the eyes of some of my students, but I am not so old as to be ignorant of young love. Patience, Harry, is truly a virtue often unappreciated by the youth of today." Harry looked down, and wished the floor would open up and swallow him, as Dumbledore's meaning sank in. It was bad enough when the twins teased him, but for his headmaster to openly discuss his relationship with Ginny! Dumbledore, noting Harry's discomfiture, then added with a chuckle, "That does not mean, however, that we must like practicing it." In spite of his embarrassment, Harry looked up, and seeing the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes, grinned in acknowledgement of his words. Dumbledore's face then took on a more serious look. "Now, unfortunately, Harry, my visit to Diagon Alley today is one of business, rather than pleasure. Would you be kind enough to collect Miss Weasley and bring her back here? I need to speak with the two of you about some matters before the others return from their excursions." Harry replied with a slightly puzzled, "Certainly, sir," and went to fetch Ginny. It took a few minutes, but he found her browsing through some poetry books at Flourish & Blotts. "Gin? Dumbledore wants to speak with us back at the Leaky Cauldron." Ginny looked up in surprise. "Do you know what about?" Harry shook his head but leaned in to whisper so that no one else would hear. "I get the feeling it's not good." Replacing the book she'd been reading, Ginny reached for his hand and sighed in resignation as they started back for the bar. "You're probably right." Entering the Leaky Cauldron, the two worried teenagers found Dumbledore waiting in the main area. He smiled at their arrival and motioned them to follow him upstairs. Entering Harry and Ron's room, he first conjured a sofa, and then waited for them to be seated. "Last spring you both agreed to secretly give testimony to the Minister's office regarding Voldemort's attempt on Miss Weasley's life. I know this was difficult in light of the fact that you could not risk revealing the existence of the charm that links you. Still, you did what you thought was right, even if it meant not telling anyone what you did. Today, I received the Minister's reply to your allegations." He paused and gave the two a sad look of regret. "I wish I had better news for you both regarding Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters you identified in your depositions to the Minister's representative last spring, but I received word this morning that the Minister refused to accept your statements. I am sorry." Harry felt Ginny stiffen next to him and he took her hand in his to comfort her. "So, what you're telling us is that despite both of our testimonies, and Ginny nearly being killed, that the Minister doesn't believe what happened." Dumbledore looked down at the two; his blue eyes revealing the truth even before he spoke. "I'm afraid, Harry, that Miss Weasley's testimony was disregarded on the grounds that her condition rendered her memories and judgement suspect." Harry felt his stomach lurch and he knew he didn't want to hear the rest but he forced himself to. "And in my case?" The words came out in short clipped tones. "In your case, several of the Minister's advisors felt that you were merely trying to shift the blame for an accident from yourself to Voldemort. Two others…" Harry jumped up in anger. "Bollocks! Do you mean to say that they thought I did this to Ginny?" How far up their arses do these 'advisors' actually have their heads? To think that I would actually hurt Ginny and then try and lie about it is absurd!" Dumbledore nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, it is absurd, but you must remember, Harry, that these are frightened men and frightened men do not think clearly. Indeed, as I was saying, two other advisors recalled all the articles in the Daily Prophet during the Tri-wizard Tournament and postulated that perhaps Miss Skeeter had been correct." Harry turned and smashed his fist into the wall behind him, causing Ginny to reach up and touch his arm gently as he exclaimed, "Oh, bloody hell! I should have realized that rubbish would continue to haunt me!" "Alas, it probably will for some time to come." Dumbledore sadly shook his head in agreement. "Miss Skeeter's articles received wide distribution and it will probably some time before the reality of who and what you are, replaces the image she created. It was for that reason that the Minister politely declined my request that you be awarded the Order of Merlin 2nd Class, for your bravery. He felt it would set a bad precedent." Ginny wrapped her arm around Harry's shoulder as he sank back down onto the sofa in dismay. "In addition, you should also know that I suspect that several of the Minister's people may have been bought off by Lucius Malfoy in order to subvert any investigation." Ginny now looked up at Dumbledore, her eyes full and round with fear. "What does this mean for us?" The Headmaster stroked his chin and replied softly, "I do not know yet. But for the moment, Tom has been laying low, most likely to gather new strength and plan some new scheme. For that, we can count our blessing and hope that we may yet turn the tide in our favor." Dumbledore walked over, placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, and spoke with genuine regret. "I'm afraid there is one thing more, Harry. Despite both of your testimonies as to the continued existence of Peter Pettigrew, the Minister also refused to reopen that case as well. I'm afraid Sirius Black will continue to be a wanted man for some time to come." Harry felt as though his whole world had just crashed in on itself. Malfoy and the other Deatheaters had escaped justice, Voldemort was still out there, the Minister thought he was a liar, and worst of all, his godfather Sirius was still a hunted man. Ginny, sensing what was going through his mind, said nothing, but rather pulled Harry into a tight embrace and held him there as he slowly forced his mind back to the present. Dumbledore offered Harry his hand as he made to get up from the sofa. "As per your wishes, I have not told the others any of this. I feel it would only cause undue worry on their parts. I will leave it to you to tell them when you feel it's appropriate. I will, however, have to tell Arthur and Molly upon their return from Calais. Now, shall we return to the bar before the others return from Diagon Alley? I must, unfortunately, return to Hogwarts immediately, however, I do trust you will have a good time tonight at the Globe." Harry looked down at the petite angel standing by his side and asked, "Are you still up for this?" Ginny shook her head. "No, I really don't much feel like going out now, but if we don't, then the others will suspect something and then we'll have a real problem on our hands." Harry sighed with resignation. "Well, in that case, let's get it over with," and the two of them followed Dumbledore back down to the bar. If the others noticed anything wrong, no one said anything about it. Bill returned with a Ministry car and everyone piled in for the trip to the new Globe Theatre. Hermione talked the entire trip to the theatre, telling the others about the original Globe, used by Shakespeare, and how the new one, modeled on the original, had been built to give modern theatre lovers an idea of how the original productions were. When they arrived, the children discovered that Bill had managed to obtain front row seats on the second balcony. The hard bench seats were a bit uncomfortable, but it was eminently preferable to being, what Hermione called, a "groundling," one of the people who'd paid to actually stand in the pit directly next to the stage. In spite of Dumbledore's news, Harry soon found himself enthralled in the play. Ginny sat quietly next to him, leaning against his body, her arm wrapped around his waist, even as his arm wrapped itself protectively around her shoulder. Together, they watched in fascination as the players presented Elizabethan Shakespeare staged in contemporary clothing and minimal sets. They laughed uproariously as the groundlings really got into the spirit of the show and became active participants in the production, meowing at bitchy statements and encouraging shouts of, "Go on, my son!" whenever someone displayed indecisiveness over love. Several, to Hermione's shock, had the audacity to actually prop their elbows on the stage during the performance! Even so, every now and then, Harry would catch Hermione giving him a slightly worried look, or Bill eyeing the young couple with an indulgent smile. Still, the night was magical and when the production finally ended, even Ron agreed that it had been worth the trip. Bill smiled at Ron's enthusiasm and remarked, "Good, I hear they're considering a production of Much Ado about Nothing, for later this year. Maybe you and Hermione could audition for the parts of Benedick and Beatrice." Ron just stopped and stared at his brother as Hermione went bright red with embarrassment, and Ginny dissolved into a hysterical giggle fit as Harry, who'd seen the video at Hermione's, started to chuckle along with Bill. His plaintive cry of, "Hang on a minute! What's so funny?" only provoked fresh gales of laughter from Bill, Harry, and Ginny, which forced Hermione to quietly whisper an explanation in his ear. Turning to the laughing trio, his face cherry red, Ron sputtered a few times before he successfully drew himself up and uttered, "Very funny, Bill. Ha, Ha." When they returned to The Leaky Cauldron, Bill gathered them in the boys' room for a quick discussion about the next day. "Now, I've got to be at Gringotts for most of tomorrow so I'm trusting you to be sensible in where you go. Try and stick to tourist spots and be on your guard, otherwise, just try and stay out of trouble. Can you do that for me?" The four chorused dutifully, "Yes, Bill!" Bill gave them a look that said, "Right, like I really believe you," and then headed off to bed.
|